Nouveau Stade RAAL – design description

The proposal of building a brand new stadium within the Tivoli sports complex (replacing training fields beside the old stadium) was launched after the city of La Louvière announced a call for offers for the leisure site.

Freshly formed RAAL La Louvière want to create a stadium meeting all criteria for UEFA Category 3 at first, then possibly upgrade to Category 4, which would allow the venue to host international fixtures of almost all levels. In other words: the stadium could become a gateway into major success in Belgian football.

In principle, the stadium is expected to deliver what the old Tivoli didn’t: compact layout with proximity to the field, and a sense of community. The latter means that app. 800 places are set for the ultras of the club.

However, at the same time RAAL officials made it very clear that the team’s success relies more on VIP and premium seating, which would consume an exceptionally high percentage of overall capacity (1,600 seats out of 8,600), spread across two levels.

Because all of the cost is to be carried by the private football club (including bank credit), the budget is capped at €16 million. Beyond this level the project is reportedly unfeasible.